Broken
by GeorgeWeasleyIsMYObsession
Summary: Sirius Black and Carla Livingston are both broken. When they run into each other inside the walls of Hogwarts, they are instantly attracted to one another. But there's a problem: Carla's in Slytherin. Can Sirius let go of past grudges to help her? Can they let go of reputations to love each other? Or will it be too late for both of them? Rated M for mentions of abuse. SB/OC LE/JP
1. Prologue

**Guess what? I'm back! Yay! **

**I apologise for the long wait for this prequel to my story **_**Life Sucks but It can only get better**_**(and yes, I realise how crappy of a title that is; I'm not very good at thinking those up if your wondering. Haha.), and the fact that I sort of disappeared off of the site for quite awhile, but I had some serious family/life drama going on, did something stupid on my part, and decided I needed to take a break and pull myself back together.**

**And here I am...again! YAY for me! This is really more for my practice at writing because I so love doing it, so Constructive Criticism is welcome, though I beg you to sign in when you give it so that I can get back to you to better understand what needs to be fixed. I do, however, not like Flames. If you don't like the story, please don't read it. I have a passion for writing and Flamers usually ruin that for most writers, so please no Flames, unless constructive.**

**Anyways, this story is going to be a lot different than my previous ones, mostly on an Angst level...really heavy on the Angst for me if I'm being honest. I do, however, promise that I can only function on a story that has a happy ending, so it shouldn't get too terribly awful.**

**Warning: There will be mentions of abuse,but only the repercussions of it, mostly because I can't bear to write things like that without feeling awful. However, I will post warnings for anything that progresses beyond that(doubtful) for those of you who want to avoid those kinds of things. The first half of this chapter does contain mentions of such abuse, but does not go into detail, I promise.**

**Anyways, please review and tell me how you feel about the story and whether or not I should continue it. Again, Constructive Criticism is welcome and enjoy :D!**

**Disclaimer: I'm just going to do this for the whole story instead of posting one every chapter because I always forget, but I do not own Harry Potter or its characters. All belong to the amazing JK Rowling, sadly. I do, however, own my OC, Carla, and am not making a profit from this story, believe me.**

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

Carla had always prided herself for being beautiful. It was something that most people both admired and envied her for. She was used to men smiling at her on the street or down the halls at school, used to them looking twice at her. Even the older, more sophisticated ones tended to fall to her physical charm.

She didn't know what made her so appealing to men. When she looked at herself, she saw someone broken beyond repair, someone who had lost all sense of who she was somewhere along her childhood.

She supposed those men didn't really care to know her past pure sexual encounters and only found her to be beautiful rather than something worth anything more than a quick fumble in a broom closet or heated snogs between classes.

She supposed all they noticed was the way her waist-length, bleach blonde hair hung around the roundness of her face, twig-straight and perfectly in place. The way her sea blue eyes seemed to sparkle flirtatiously when they looked at her with a stark hunger in their eyes. The way her eyelashes curled and framed those eyes and the natural way her beauty seemed to shine through, never enhanced or hidden by make-up. The way her chest seemed far bigger than normal when she wore hugging shirts or the curves she had in all the right places.

Or maybe it wasn't the beauty that turned them on so much. Maybe it was the confidence she carried herself with, the arrogant nature with which she used to hide her secrets and insecurities. Maybe it was the perfect facade she put on around everyone, never letting the cracks show or the emotion become too much to handle. Maybe it was the fear she had of commitment, promising no strings or ties to her emotionally.

Whatever it was they found so enjoyable she did not see in herself any longer as she looked in the mirror that gloomy morning.

If you'd have asked she wouldn't have been able to tell you when her life had become so horrible, when it had all gone to hell. Her childhood seemed like such a blur. She couldn't quite remember when the last time she'd felt safe in her home was, when the last time she'd had a happy memory in the place she called home. All of her memories here seemed to be dark and cold, nothing even remotely worth remembering or embracing. No memory to hold onto when things became too hard for her. No memory that provided any hope to her at all, no hope of escaping this hell hole, no hope of being able to let go of her fears and move on with her life.

If there were any happy memories, or ever had been, the bad ones over-shadowed them, so dark they were that everything good cowered in the deepest crevices of her subconscience, unwilling to come out.

That day the weather outside seemed to correspond to her mood in a way she would have thought impossible; the sky outside was gloomy and grey as the pattering of rain resonated around her silent room. The rain on the window panes looked like tears that could no longer be witheld from mother nature as they ran down in slow, yet steady, proccession. The trees seemed to quiver under the weight of the rain on their leaves, branches hanging limp. It was as though mother nature was weeping for her.

She stared at the reflection of herself heavily, assessing the damage that had been done the night before. Purple and black bruises covered her arms and legs, the imprint of a hand on her left cheek, and a black eye beginning to bloom on her face. There were a few scratches here and there, a large black and blue bruise on her stomach, and a cut that was bleeding into her hair, turning it a light brown color as it dried and caused it to clump together. Aside from that, she was otherwise unharmed.

Staring at her reflection for another heavy second, she sighed before turning to pull on a white, fluffy bathrobe. Tying the sash, she made her way out into the hallway and down the stairs.

The house was small and comfortable, housing two bedrooms and a makeshift office. To anyone outside of her world it would have looked welcoming, homey, loving even, but Carla was not lured in by its false sense of security. She knew better than to trust the pictures on the wall of her smiling face(usually with her mother. Never her father.) or the welcoming cream color of the walls. This house only reminded her of the things that had went wrong in her life, the anger and fear that resided within its walls, smothering in its intensity.

Distantly, she could hear the clanking of pots and pans, smell the breakfast cooking faintly from her position in the living room and smiled.

Knowing her mother was awake and making breakfast, no matter the circumstances, always brought a smile to her face.

She walked into the kitchen and froze halfway to the table, her smile sliding off immediately at the sight of her father sitting at the head of the table, sipping his coffee languidly as he read his morning paper. He looked up upon her entrance.

"Good morning, father." she stated politely, sharing a quick glance with her mother before taking a seat on the left side of her father, her back straight, feet flat, and hands folded in her lap.

Her father insisted upon her looking like a perfect lady, though his idea of a "perfect lady" differed from most people's, and became dangerously angry when she did anything unlady-like. He checked her posture for any flaws before grudgingly resigning to the fact that she sat perfectly, the way he had taught her.

She was slightly angered to find that he had been hoping for a flaw in her posture, hoping for a reason to yell and beat her into compliance. She could feel the rage boiling to a dangerous level, tried to supress it before she did something reckless, something she'd regret, but she couldn't stop it. Couldn't stop the disgust and hatred for the man that sat before her, tired of supressing all her sadness and rage inside herself. He wasn't a man if he found pleasure in beating his wife and child. Wasn't a man if he could take the wishes and dreams from his child and put his needs before hers. It made her angry beyond anything she'd ever felt before.

Luckily, her mother took that moment to set the food on the table and gave her daughter a stern look as though sensing the rising anger and the reckless urge she was tempted to let loose.

Carla shook herself mentally and took a deep, calming breath as she tried to settle her rising emotions, pushed them all back down, and waited for her father to set his paper down and begin to eat his food.

They were never allowed to eat until he had finished his own breakfast, sure he had gotten his fill before he allowed them theirs.

_Selfish bastard, _she thought savagely, watching him eat his bacon and eggs as though he had all the time in the world.

"I'll be working late at the office tonight. They have an important case they want me to look at. I should be home around dinner, but I won't be able to stop by for lunch. There's a list in my office of things that need to be done by the time I get home."

Neither Carla or her mother graced him with an answer or even a nod of acknowledgement, but he was too busy eating his breakfast to care.

Carla could feel her mother's eyes on her face, feel the concern for her daughter radiating off her in waves so strong they made her want to succumb to her tears. She knew when her father left, she'd wrap her up in her arms and let her cry till her heart hurt a little less in her chest. She'd force her to eat breakfast and then make her take an ice bath to stop the bruises from swelling.

Her mother wouldn't tend to her own wounds; she was far too defiant, independent to give into the pain her father caused them both. But she'd be damned if Carla had to go through the same. That was her daughter and, while she couldn't stop the abuse, she could make sure her daughter didn't walk around feeling the same pain she did.

Carla knew that when her father left, she'd break down, give into the comfort only her mother could provide. Her mother had never even raised her voice at Carla, let alone her hand. She had the patient of a saint and the compassion to fill the most horrid people with a sense of safety. There was something about her mother that made people feel loved, but she had a way about her that didn't allow nonsense, an aura of a woman who was strong-willed and proud. While she would never raise a hand to Carla, the calm voice was far worse than the pain her father caused her on a daily basis.

The sound of disappointment in her mother's voice when she gave Carla a reprimand, the guilt it caused in her chest was like a knife in her heart. There was nothing worse than the guilt her mother could cause in someone when they did something wrong.

It was for these reasons that Carla loved her mother with a passion she didn't have for anything else. If her mother had hated her as much as her father, Carla didn't know what she'd do. Her mother was the only reason she hadn't run from this. Her mother was always strong and that gave Carla hope to believe everything would be okay. And hope was really all they had.

* * *

Sirius Black examined himself in the full length mirror hanging on the back of his bedroom door. The light grey button up he had tucked into his black slacks brought out the color of his eyes and made him look far more mature than he would care to admit. He'd left the top two buttons undone in an attempt to stop him from backing out of this, damn the consequences of such actions.

They were having a family dinner tonight and he had been told to look his best. Of course, when he'd then been informed of who would be attending the dinner, he'd been even more put off then he had in the beginning.

He hated when his aunt Druella showed up with his cousins, Bellatrix and Narcissa. Ever since Andromeda had moved out 5 years prior, things for Sirius had gotten particularly nasty.

While Andromeda hadn't really gotten much of a second thought from her family, she had been Sorted into Slytherin. Sirius suspected that Druella had hoped she was only going through a phase, would come out of her dillusions and fantasies, marry a Pureblood, and have pureblood children. She'd been wrong, of course. Andy had been seeing a Muggle behind her mother's back for years and married him a year out of Hogwarts. They'd had a little girl a year later, Nymphadora, and Druella had sworn never to speak to her daughter again, his mother had blasted her off the tapestry, and Bella had become increasingly nasty to him now that he had no support. Coward.

Needless to say, Sirius was not looking forward to this family dinner. He didn't want to pretend to ignore the harsh words that were said about him like he wasn't in the room or go to sleep knowing that his family may just slit his throat before he woke in the morning.

"SIRIUS BLACK!"

Sirius winced as the sound of his mother's shrill voice echoing up the stairs and into his bedroom reached his ears. He hurriedly slipped on the dress shoes beside his door and ran to meet his family in the entrance hall of Grimmauld Place. His brother and father wore similar attire and his mother was dressed in a simple black dress that hit the floor and made her look somewhat menacing and manly in Sirius's opinion.

"Button your shirt!" snapped his mother as he went to stand next to Regulus. "I told you to look decent, not like a hooligan. And quit slouching, boy. We're trying to give an impression. Merlin knows I shouldn't count on you much for that, should I?"

Sirius tried to ignore the stinging comments, but they seemed to enter his mind anyway. He could easily say that he hated his mother. Honestly, who in the world wouldn't? But that didn't mean it didn't hurt to hear such disapproval and disgust for him in her voice. No matter how much he hated her, she was his mother, no matter how terrible, and there would always be a love there, always a hope that he could make her proud even if he didn't want. Deep down..._way _deep down, he knew he didn't hate her as much as he convinced himself he did.

Regulus shot him a sympathetic look, as though reading his thoughts, as Sirius buttoned the buttons of his shirt and straightened his back. Moments later, there was a knock on the door.

"Kreacher, get the door!" ordered his mother, sharply.

Kreacher, an ugly house elf that Sirius resented more than the world itself, gave his mother a look of awe as he bowed and muttered, "Yes, my beloved Mistress. Whatever you wish."

Sirius could not help but roll his eyes as Kreacher opened the door and the three women stepped in. Kreacher was quick to accept their jackets and hang them on the coat rack next to the door.

"Walburga," said Druella, politely. "How are you?"

"Outstanding, Druella," said his mother. "Is dinner ready Kreacher?"

"Of course, Mistress." said Kreacher, bowing once again as he led them to the kitchen and set the table with food. Sirius was not stupid enough to miss the fact that all of the food seemed to be out of his reach.

"Trying to starve me now, eh, Kreacher?" he snapped, haughtily, glaring at the house elf, who only glared back. "Isn't that a bit amateur for you?"

He watched the elf bristle with anger and indignation and smirked at the reaction he had roused from the tiny creature. His mother, however, gave him a glare so cold the smirk slipped off his face instantly.

"Hold your tongue, Sirius Black." she snapped. "I won't have any of your nonsense at this table tonight, are we clear?"

"Yes, mother." he gritted out, tightening the hand he had on his fork. He could see Bella smirking across from him and had a strong urge to throw it right at her eyes.

Dinner went by relatively quickly, an uncomfortable silence filling Sirius's ears. He tried to ignore the small talk that was neither directed or received by him. He had a small twinge of hope that this dinner wouldn't be so bad after all. Of course, this hope was so miniscule that he wasn't surprised nor disappointed when dessert was served and the lull in conversation was filled with exactly what he had been dreading; Voldemort.

"So, Bella, what are you planning to do outside of Hogwarts?" asked his mother, as she poured herself another glass of wine.

"Well, I've gotten a few offers..." Bella said, sharing a look with her mother, who nodded for her to continue, a look of pride Sirius wasn't particularly happy to see. "You see, the Dark Lord is looking for followers. He needs someone he can trust at his side, someone who sees things the way I do, that has a long line of proud purebloods." Bella threw Sirius a dark look that made him grin arrogantly at her in defiance. He saw her lips move into a snarl and winked at her; he always knew how to get a rise out of her. She continued, "He's offered me a position I couldn't possibly refuse, you see. He said I was perfect for the job, but I need a bit of training, a bit of practice in this kind of field, he has to be sure that he can trust me to do his work without hesitation. I have to give him my full devotion. Of course, I told him I would."

"That's wonderful, Bella." said Walburga, her voice filled with a pride that Sirius wished she would aim toward him. He angrily stomped on that admission before it could blossom into anything more than a thought. "I assume you have been teaching Narcissa, yes?"

Bella nodded.

"Its been easier now that Andromeda is gone. Narcissa isn't torn choosing between her sisters any longer and I think she's really beginning to understand why they're all scum."

Sirius clenched his fork tighter, tried to concentrate on the apple pie in front of him, but knew his attempts were pointless. It was too much to ask for a man like him to push away the anger he was feeling at his family in that moment.

"And Regulus?" asked Druella, as she looked over at his brother. Sirius's head snapped up to regaerd his brother and felt himself grow sick at the look of admiration he was watching Bella with. "What do you believe about the Muggles?"

Sirius watched his brother with bated breath, hoping, praying tht he would not say what his family wanted to hear.

"I think they're worthless. Definitely a danger to the Wizarding World, disgusting really," said Regulus, looking away from Bella for a minute to look at his aunt.

Sirius could feel anger welling inside him, reaching its peak and was helpless to stop it. He heard himself snort before he could stop himself and watched as the whole table turned to regard him coldly.

"Problem, Sirius?" asked his mother, dangerously.

He knew he should have kept his mouth shut, should've let it go, pushed down his anger, but he couldn't. Not anymore. He was so tired of the crap they put him through, so tired of the way they spoke about him, the way they talked about defenseless Muggles.

"Dangerous?" he sneered at his brother. "You're bloody joking, right?"

Regulus regarded his brother with a strange look as Sirius stared at him with so much hatred he had to refrain from wincing. He and his brother had never been awfully close, but Sirius had never pushed him away or regarded him in a way that suggested anything but a healthy brotherly dispute between them. Now Regulus was a tad afraid of him.

"Their bloody defenseless and their a 'danger to the Wizarding World'?" he said, laughing coldly. "Merlin, you people are more daft than I thought."

"Sirius Black, you listen to me right now-"

"Oh, no, mum," said Sirius, standing angrily. "I'm done listening to your mental pureblood, 'cleansing the Wizarding World' beliefs. Its all bullshit, in my opinion. If anyone's a danger to the Wizarding World, its you lot. You're all killing each other to prove a bloody _point_? A stupid one at that. Honestly, you've all gone completely mental and I don't want anything to do with the lot of you."

Walburga sneered at her son as he moved for the door.

"And where will you go?" she asked.

Sirius's sneer matched her own as he looked at her over his shoulder.

"The Potters. Rather be there than here. Don't bother trying to reach me, I don't give a bloody damn enough to try anymore."

And, with that, he had left Grimmauld Place, never to look back again. He only hoped that the Potters accepted him with open arms because he hadn't quite thought of a back up plan if they didn't. If they didn't accept him, then who would?

**Alright, that's it for the first chapter. Yay! I know Bella's age is way off since she's only a year older than Sirius, but she's really important to the story. Andromeda has been moved to oldest and her date of birth has not changed, but Bella and Narcissa are a bit behind what they should be. I hope that doesn't bother you all.**

**Anywho, please review. The more I get, the quicker I update.**


	2. Chapter 1: King's Cross

**Okay, so I've decided to give the story another chapter because the first chapter is kinda depressing. Its not all going to be sad, but there will be some depressing stuff thrown in.**

**Of course, this takes place in the Maruader's Era so there will be plenty of pranks and jokes to go around, but it won't all be happy. Hopefully everything flows smoothly and I have plenty of ideas for this story, so hopefully Author's Block doesn't kick in again.**

**Anyways, on to the second chapter.**

**1. King's Cross**

* * *

Carla awoke to the smell of breakfast cooking downstairs and looked over at the blinking red numbers on her alarm clock; 8:30.

She was up and out of bed in an instant, rustling through her closet for something to wear to King's Cross. She only had an hour and a half to get ready before they had to leave for King's Cross and there was no way she was going to be late...again.

She checked her appearance in the mirror above the bathroom sink and sighed in relief when she noticed that the bruises on her face had healed and her face looked just as it had; flawless and perfect. She'd been avoiding the mirror since the morning she'd woken up to assess the damage and was happy to see she wouldn't have to find a way to conceal the damage her father had done.

When she was done getting ready, she slipped on her wristwatch and checked her appearance in the full length mirror hanging on the door of the bathroom. Giving an approving nod at the way the red swoop neck and faded jeans hugged her body, she opened the door and froze.

There, on the other side of the door, was her father, fist raised to knock. Before Carla even had any idea what she was doing, she flinched away from his hand and backed away from the door in reflex.

She watched his face take on a sort of smug look and grabbed the bathroom counter for support, helpless to stop the fear coursing through her body. She could feel her legs shaking with the effort to hold her up and her heart beat rapidly in her chest as she tried to get herself back under control.

"We're leaving in 15 minutes. I suggest you get your school things and put them in the car."

Carla only nodded her response, waiting for him to leave the doorway. When he did, she sank to the ground and covered her head in her hands, taking deep breaths as she attempted to calm her racing heart.

She had to compose herself now, before she got to the train station. She couldn't afford to break down in front of her friends. They'd all know that something was going on and then she'd be badgered to tell them everything.

Of course, most of her friends weren't really her friends at all. They were more Lily's friends than her own and would eventually stop pretending to care and leave her alone. Lily, on the other hand...

Lily Evans, Hogwarts Prefect, goody-two-shoes of the year...and her best friend. Lily had been the only one in the school willing to embrace her as a friend. She wasn't exactly welcome in Slytherin, seeing as they weren't particularly keen on her being muggleborn, ruining their reputation as pureblood fanatics. And every other house didn't like her because she was sorted into Slytherin.

But Lily..there was just something about Lily that Carla had found reassuring when she'd been made her Potions partner in their 4th year. Lily hadn't looked at her with disdain or disgust when she sat next to her. She gave her a friendly smile that Carla had been quick to return, shocking Lily so thouroughly she almost fell off her stool. Carla had laughed for the first time in years and her and Lily had been best friends since.

Of course, Carla hadn't been hopeful to make any more friends other than Lily. She knew of her friendship with Severus Snape, though she was one of those people that didn't understand what she was doing with such a god awful boy, and knew that her friends were not accepting of him. She didn't expect any different treatment for her.

While Carla loved Lily, the girl tended to be rather stubborn. If she found Carla having a break down, she'd never let Carla breathe easy again until she was informed of the problem.

Taking a deep breath and steadying herself one more time, she pushed all of her emotions back into the little box in the back of her mind and stood. She'd done this for years, hidden away all her dark secrets and pain. She could do it for another one.

Only problem was this would be the only year she'd actually have someone other than her mother that worried about her well-being. Carla had always been able to keep her pain locked away because there had been no one to tell, but now that she had Lily...she wasn't quite sure she could anymore.

* * *

Carla could feel the excitement rising in her chest as her father pulled into a parking space at the train station. She hadn't seen Lily in months and she couldn't wait to finally catch up with her.

There was one good thing about Hogwarts and that was having girl time. Carla wasn't the girliest girl of all time, but she did like her fair share of gossip and checking out hot guys on the grounds, giggling at their horrible attempts at flirting. And the best things about those moments was listening to Lily rant and rave about the incorrigible James Potter, which amused her to no end.

All of this had to wait, however, when her father shut the engine off and settled into his seat, looking over at her. Carla's excitement was suddenly put on hold, a nervousness beginning to take its place.

She knew he wouldn't hurt her. Not here anyway, but that didn't stop her from worrying about the nature of this discussion. She and her father never had heart to hearts so it was safe to say that wasn't what it was.

"You know the rules?" he asked, watching her with a hard look in his eyes.

Carla felt her shoulders sag in relief; she wasn't in any sort of trouble.

"Keep my grades up. No boys. Keep my mouth shut." she muttered, nodding. "May I be excused?"

She flinched when he placed his arm on the back of her seat and moved closer to her, his face so close she could feel his breath on her face. His eyes seemed to take on a predatory glint and her fear returned, her heart beating so hard in her chest she was afraid he could hear it.

"Why must you obey these rules, Carla?" he said, a dangerous edge to his voice.

"No one can know wha happens at home." she responded, her voice high and weak.

He searched her eyes for any sign of defiance. He must have found none because he sat back and gave a nod toward her car door. She scrambled out of the car, taking a deep breath, and grabbed her trunk out of the back.

King's Cross was just as she remembered it, packed with people pushing trolleys filled with their luggage, parents guiding their children through the throngs of people, and those few strange teenagers and children that had a caged owl perched on top of their trunks ready to return to Hogwarts.

"Carla!"

Carla's excitement returned tenfold when she heard Lily's voice behind her. Turning around, all she heard was a squeal of excitement before Lily's dark red hair was in her face as she attacked her in a hug.

Carla laughed.

"Miss me?"

Lily pulled away to grin up at her.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say the feeling was mutual." she said, her green eyes dancing with excitement.

"Problem is you do know better, don't you?"

"Carla," she said, rolling her eyes and slapping her friend on the arm.

Carla only grinned before turning back to her trunk and wondering how she was supposed to put it in a trolley when she could hardly drag it in here. Before she could think up a plan Lily's mother's voice drifted over to her and she was enfolded in the woman's arms.

"Carla, dear, its so lovely to see you," said Rose, holding her at arm's length and inspecting her appearance. "Beautiful as always."

"Thanks, Rose," she said, smiling up at the woman that looked so much like Lily.

"Good Lord, Carla, what did you put in this thing?" asked Lily's father, Mark, as Lily laughed uproariously next to him, watching him struggle to lift her trunk into the trolley. "Thanks for the help, flower." he grunted under the strain of lifting the trunk.

It was several minutes later that Lily and Carla were sliding through the barrier into platform nine and three-quarters, Lily still giggling randomly when she looked at her father.

Carla squinted through the steam from the gleaming scarlet steam engine sitting motionless on the tracks. There were large throngs of people, students and parents alike, waiting to see each other off to school, cats running here and there between their legs and the sounds of owls hooting loudly to one another. First years looked around the platform in awe and anticipation and Carla could distinctly remember that being her five years ago, excited to start a new life in a school far away where no one knew her.

Lily was standing on her toes, searching the hundreds of bodies for her friends. Carla stood patiently beside her, waiting for her to spot Alice Prewett and Stephanie Meyer in the throng of people. Carla never really helped her look for her friends. They didn't really like her anyway, so she didn't really see the point in it.

Alice and Stephanie had been Lily's friends since her 1st year and Carla, being Lily's best friend, never complained or said a word against them, which was a feat for Carla. She liked adding her two cents when she got the chance, but Carla was also pretty sure Lily didn't need her two cents to know that the three girls didn't particularly like each other.

Carla put up with them because she loved Lily and knew Lily was close to the two of them, but she had a strong feeling that the other two girls didn't exactly show the same kind of respect for her when she wasn't around.

Alice, a shy and pretty girl with a plump, round face and blue eyes, wasn't so bad. She didn't really have a problem with Carla herself, but she seemed rather uncomfortable with her around. Lily had told her once, when Carla had expressed her concern about her friends, that Alice was rather intimidated by her.

Stephanie, a gorgeous brunette with short curly hair, flawless face, and green eyes, on the other hand, had no problem making it known to Carla that she wasn't fond of her. She always seemed to be throwing her dirty looks and making snide comments. Carla was also positive that Stephanie was the reason Carla had so much experience with the rumor mill at Hogwarts. She was a god awful girl in all honesty. Carla was sometimes under the impression that Stephanie felt threatened by her, though she wasn't really sure why.

Carla stood beside Lily's awestruck parents in silence, waiting for her friend to give up her search and meet them in their compartment, like they did every year, and watched Lily's parents in amusement.

It was their 6th year taking Lily to platform nine and three-quarters and they were still as much in awe as they had been when they'd first seen it. Carla didn't know if it was knowing that everyone on this packed platform were all of magical decent or if it was the man yelling out into the crowd about the new racing broom that had just been released to the public. Whatever it was, Carla couldn't help but shake her head and laugh at the two of them.

Lily soon gave up her search for her friends and turned back to Carla.

"I can't find them. I guess we should go find a compartment?" she said.

Carla nodded in response and busied herself with getting her trunk out of her trolley as Lily said good-bye to her parents, a pang of envy hitting her hard in the chest.

She knew she shouldn't feel like that, knew it was pointless, and, in all honesty, she didn't know why she felt it at all. Aside from her mother, she didn't know who she would want to say good-bye to. Her mother always gave her loving good-bye at home, and Carla had always accepted that, even when she watched Lily and her parents say good-bye to one another every year. Why was she suddenly feeling jealous?

Carla supposed it could be from the ache of normalcy she wished her family had, the happiness of normal circumstances. But hers was not of normal circumstances. She had accepted that long ago.

Carla sighed as she followed Lily onto the train, just as the final whistle blew, a warning to the students that the train would be leaving.

This year was going to be all kinds of hell for her, she could already tell.

* * *

**Alright, so that's the second chapter. I'm not sure it's as good as the first one, but I gave it my all. Anyways, I have two options for the second chapter. **

**Option 1: I can put this chapter in Sirius's third person POV**

**or**

**Option 2: I can just continue on to Hogwarts.**

**Any ideas which sounds best? If not I'll just continue on to Hogwarts. Anyways, please review and I hope you liked it! :D**


	3. Chapter 2: Hogwarts

**Okay, so first things first...thank you for all of the reviews, favorites/alerts! They make my day, believe me. And at the moment not much makes my day.**

**Secondly, school started last Friday (personally I think it's stupid it started on a Friday) so I may not get to update as often as I, or you all, would like. I planned on updating the weekend after school started, but my dad had to borrow my laptop so I didn't. Sorry about that.**

**Thirdly, why has fanfiction suddenly decided to change the site up like crazy? It took me a minute to figure out that the page was fully loaded when I went to update the last chapter. Hehe might have just been me though...**

**Again if anyone finds something wrong with the story, I am more than willing to listen to suggestions. Now on to the story...**

**xXallegedangelXx: Hehe your review made me smile. I honestly don't know how I came up with the idea of Carla being muggleborn and in Slytherin. It just sort of came to me and, since Carla's an OC, I figured why not? As for my way of getting her in (because I too don't think the Sorting Hat would ever allow it) was that song in the 5th book that the hat made when Voldemort returned? I thought maybe in dark and desperate times the hat would be more lenient on bringing all the students together, no matter their blood lines. Desperate times call for desperate measures, yeah? Of course that could just be me over analyzing things. I tend to do that a lot lol. Plus Carla's attitude is definitely one I'd consider of Slytherin nature, at least in my mind. Anyways, so glad you're enjoying the story so far and hope to continue to keep you interested.**

**The ever faithful Arwin Fred: I agree that train chapters tend to be boring, but I've never really written a story with two really important main characters. George and Nessa was really more in Nessa's POV than George's, so I wasn't sure on how I should approach Sirius's way of looking at things. Anyways on to the story. Have I told you you're my favorite? :D lol.**

**And…I finally got spell check on my computer (but only for a little while) so the next few chapters shouldn't be too grammatically incorrect…hopefully. **

**Hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

**2. Hogwarts**

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Sirius sometimes wondered why he found so much comfort here when he arrived every year. He'd dreamed of coming to Hogwarts since he was 11, every witch and wizard had. For him, it had been a fresh start, a new beginning.

Since the moment he'd stepped foot in those doors he'd been filled with an elation he could hardly explain to someone who had never been there; they could never comprehend what it felt like. The feeling was so vast, so all-consuming he hardly knew how to explain it to himself.

Looking up at the castle now from his position on the carriage, he realized how comforting the castle looked, towering over the trees surrounding the path they were currently traveling on, its lights glowing through the windows like small lanterns in the distance. It was impossible to have missed how much the castle seemed to envelope him in its warmth and familiarity, something his life seemed to be completely lacking.

He could hear his friends laughing next to him in the carriage and nearly suffocated with the happiness and relief he felt in this moment. He was finally returning to Hogwarts and he couldn't possibly feel any better.

While being at Hogwarts entailed homework and classes, it also included pranks, late night detentions, annoying McGonagall, and, most importantly, girls. He didn't have to worry about the darkness growing outside of these walls and he didn't think he could bring himself to fathom the amount in which he would have to grow up once outside those walls.

Right now, however, he had all the time in the world to be a completely immature and irrational teenager…and he was going to welcome that thought with open arms.

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He looked at the familiar surroundings of the Great Hall as the first years were being sorted into their Houses. He didn't really care where they ended up; he didn't talk to them anyway. Unless he was scaring them senseless of course, that never seemed to become boring.

The atmosphere in the hall was one of apprehension and excitement that seemed to rub off on Sirius as he looked at all of the students sitting, completely enraptured by the Sorting of the first years going on in front of them. The silence in the Great Hall was not one that Sirius appreciated, though if he were being honest he didn't appreciate silences at all. The only noise filling the hall came from the Sorting hat and the occasional clapping of the house the first year had been sorted into.

Sirius had always wondered what the students found so interesting in the Sorting. He found it to be completely anticlimactic and only increased his wait for food. Honestly, they hadn't eaten since that morning and they were more worried about a couple of _firsties_. He was going to go mental watching these people.

His stomach rumbled so loudly that all of his friends sniggered at the curious glances sent his way by the Hufflepuff table next to them and Sirius could feel his fondness for Hogwarts slipping away to be replaced with irritation as he glared at the flawless golden plate and goblet in front of him.

"Bloody hell," he muttered in annoyance, "Is the sorting almost over? I feel like I'm in hell."

James shook his head in exasperation and Remus rolled his eyes.

"I don't see how, Padfoot," James muttered back, eyes trained at the front of the hall though all of his attention was focused on his best friend. "You ate about all of the food we had in the house, you lousy git."

"Oi! I'll have you know that I am a growing boy—"

Remus snorted quietly so the group of four didn't attract any more attention from their fellow students.

"Padfoot, for Merlin's sake, shut up. Maybe if you weren't so impatient it wouldn't feel like it's taking so long, now show some respect, will you?" Then, looking over and taking his eyes off the last three students to be sorted, he gave Sirius a quick once over. He smirked in a way that made Sirius suspicious of his next move. "Have you gained weight, Padfoot?"

Sirius felt his jaw hit the floor as James and Peter suddenly had simultaneous coughing fits that he strongly suspected was laughter.

"I will have you know, Moony" he exclaimed indignantly, his voice drowned out by the clapping from the Slytherin table. "That my figure is absolutely marvelous!"

Remus grinned at him and gave him a 'whatever-you-say-Padfoot' sort of look that Sirius glared at. Who was he to tell him he looked anything less than roguishly handsome? It took him hours to look like this. Perfection didn't just come naturally, for Merlin's sake.

Sirius refrained from saying anything else while the last two first years were sorted into their houses, though he did smack James for giggling randomly at his expense. Stupid prat.

Gloriously, the platters in front of him began to fill with food, wonderful food that made his mouth water in anticipation as he battled with himself, trying to decide what he should eat first.

He smacked Peter's hand out of the way as he reached for a rack of lamb and potatoes. Peter opened his mouth angrily, but Sirius raised an eyebrow and he quickly closed it for fear of eliciting his anger. James and Remus glared at him, but Sirius ignored it and began devouring his food in front of him.

"Could you pass me the potatoes, Remus?" a feminine voice said from a few seats down.

Remus immediately reached for the bowl, but James slapped his hand away and Remus drew his hand back in reflex and glared at his friend.

"Merlin, Prongs, what was that for?" he exclaimed angrily, rubbing his hand.

James ignored him and turned a sparkling grin on an apprehensive and glaring Lily Evans.

"Lily, my love—"

"Do not call me that, Potter." She snapped.

The smile on James's face quickly turned into a smirk as he looked at the young woman in front of him. Beautiful as she was on a regular, he found her wonderfully enticing when she was angry. Seeing as getting a rise out of her was the only way he got any sort of reaction out of her, he particularly enjoyed ruffling her pretty little feathers.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry, Evans. The thought had slipped my mind." He said, handing her the potatoes.

She among the several other students surrounding them, his friends in particular, seemed surprised at his lack of response to the feisty red-headed Gryffindor sitting before him. If there was one thing James Potter loved more than pranks, it was the attention of Lily Evans.

She found her guard slipping away as he looked at her so earnestly and took the potatoes from his hands and piling her plate with them before she handed them back to him. Piling his own plate before setting the bowl back in its respected place at the table, he looked up at her and grinned crookedly. Her heart plummeted.

"If I am not allowed to call you that I must find a pet name for you, wouldn't you agree, Padfoot?" he said, turning to his best friend and partner in crime.

Sirius swallowed his food and grinned at him and sending Lily a mischievous wink that made her blush in both anger and embarrassment.

"I quite agree with you, James." He said, the grin firmly planted on his face as he stroked an imaginary beard. "But what shall it be, do you think? Lily pad?"

James shook his head and mimicked Sirius's actions. Remus could feel Lily's developing anger resonating off of her in small, but strong waves and tensed slightly. It was the first day back and James was already causing problems with the innocent young woman.

"James," he warned as Peter watched the conversation as though it were a ping pong match.

"Nah," James said. "Lily flower?"

"Definitely not, Prongsie. Her pet name must show your undying love for her, yes? Tiger Lily?"

"Lovely Lily?"

"Lusty Lily?"

"Sweet cheeks?"

"Now, now Prongs, you can't just call a woman 'sweet cheeks'. See, mate, they have to live up to the name." Sirius said, grinning and turning towards a red-faced Lily. "Tell us, Evans, do you think you have sweet cheeks?"

James turned to judge her reaction to the pet name and watched as her face grew redder than he thought was healthy. Then again, the anger the petite woman possessed when provoked couldn't possibly be healthy either.

"I beg your pardon?" she gritted out through her teeth as she glared at the arrogant men in front of her.

"It's quite a simple question, my love." James said, giving her a look that made him want to slap him clear across the face. "You see, only you could possibly know how sweet your cheeks are and, as Sirius has clarified, I must not call you sweet cheeks if you have not earned the right. So, do you suppose you have sweet cheeks?"

Lily stared at him, long and hard, her glare solidifying as the seconds past, until finally she graced him with an answer.

"Do you particularly enjoy being a man, Potter?" she snapped. She found herself smirking at the shock and disbelief that flashed across his face, however brief, before his face was again filled with mischief and laughter.

"Why, yes, I do, dearest," Winking he said, "Give me a chance and I'm sure you will too."

Lily spluttered indignantly as Sirius roared with laughter. Remus groaned and smacked himself in the forehead, shaking his head in disbelief. Could this possibly get any worse? Peter observed the reactions of his friends before deciding it was best to laugh with Sirius and James, though he didn't know what he was laughing at.

"You—you—you _vulgar, immature_—UGH!" Lily screamed in frustration, standing up from the table, unable to think of a response to his insinuation and stomping out of the Great Hall with the eyes of many students.

Sirius clapped his friend on the back and laughed at a grinning James. Remus instantly went into a rant about how James shouldn't insinuate such things in front of women who deserved more than that. Sirius rolled his eyes and tuned him out, turning his attention to the doors of the Great Hall just as Lily rounded the corner.

Grinning at the anger he and his best mate had elicited from the Gryffindor, he was just lowering his head to continue eating his dinner when another figure caught his eye.

He watched as a girl around their age with bleach blonde hair and a Slytherin tie on over her school shirt walked down the Slytherin table and toward the doors. She walked with quick, determined steps across the hall and out the doors, following Lily with a smirk plastered across her face. Sirius didn't know who she was, but he perfectly intended on finding out, particularly before Lily was in harm's way by a prejudice Slytherin.

Excusing himself from the table, he stood not wanting to attract attention to the scene he was sure was going to unfold, for he was sure James would over react and do something stupid to protect the girl.

Besides, Sirius was always ready to seek vengeance on an unsuspecting Slytherin.

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**Oh no, what is Sirius going to do, do you think? Anyways, I'm sorry for the long wait and I wish I could have updated sooner, but my education does come first.**

**Secondly, I have decided to start a George/OC story because the idea just won't leave me alone and its starting to get in the way of this story. I know I said I wouldn't start another story while working on this one, but if I don't get this idea out of my head, I'm going to have some serious problems trying to keep it at bay. Anyone know how it feels?**

**Anyways, I give all of you permission to PM me and yell at me if I stop updating this story as frequently(which shouldn't happen, but just in case) this story will always come first, so I will be quick to update after that. **

**Anyways, review and hope you enjoyed! **


	4. Chapter 3: Meeting

**Hey, ya'll! I know its been awhile since my last update. Life's been kinda hectic lately and my laptop charger broke so it was impossible for me to update. On the bright side, I got a laptop for Christmas so I decided to update my stories. Consider this my Christmas present to you guys XD. Merry Christmas...belatedly!**

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**Chapter 3: Meeting**

It didn't take Carla long to realise she was being followed. She could feel someone's gaze on her back as though it were a sixth sense. It hadn't always been that way, if she thought about it. She suspected it had something to do with being sorted into Slytherin. It wasn't as though she could be easily accepted into her own house when she was muggle-born. Shaking her head to dislodge her sudden feelings of isolation, she surreptitiously grabbed her wand out of her front pocket. Time to see if whoever was following her wanted to play.

She kept walking across the marble flooring of the castle, the floors so clean she could see her reflection in them. With a quick wave of her wand, she had the floor mirroring the reflection of the person behind her. Sirius Black. With a raised eyebrow, she cleared the image and placed her wand in her pocket once again. Though she didn't know why he was following her, she could sense a conflict on the horizon.

Sirius Black was not well known for his tolerance of Slytherins. On the contrary, he seemed to hate them with a passion that rivaled her own. She would be lying had she said she wasn't a tad bit intrigued by his hatred of them. Regulus Black was placed in Slytherin and he happened to be a sweet boy, though a little misled. She wondered if that had something to do with it. On the other hand, Sirius Black was also known for his charm. It was hardly a normal day at Hogwarts if you didn't hear about his conquests from one of the chattering girls in the Great Hall. It was the coolest thing in the world to be noticed by Sirius Black, pankster extrodinaire. Carla rolled her eyes. Idiots.

Pasting an inviting grin, she spun on her heels and leaned up against the wall of the castle, waiting for him to turn the corner. She didn't need a wand to play this game. While he was quite good-looking she had never been interested in beng just another of his conquests. She had enough conquests of her own to worry about being his. She did, however, know that Sirius Black was a sucker for familiarity. And what was more familiar to him then a girl fawning all over him?

He rounded the corner the next second and stopped when he saw her, his hand tightening on his wand so much that his knuckles turned white. She pushed herself away from the wall and grinned at him.

"Sirius Black," she said, her voice carefully friendly, though she was pretty sure a bit of her arrogance squeezed its way through. "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

She watched as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"You can cut the crap." he stated, his voice filled with a hatred so vile she was unable to hide her wince. "I'm not an idiot."

Carla quickly composed her face into a look of innocence.

"I've no idea what you're talking about, Black." she said, walking towards him and coming to a stop in front of him, which immediately turned out to be an awful idea. From this close she could obviously see why he was so taken with by the ladies.

It was hard for her to find a man that she was actually attracted to. Normally they were only worth a quick fumble in a broom closet before she got tired of them and not many had been at all satisfying. Sirius Black, on the onther hand, was absolutely captivating. He was only taller than her by a good three inches, standing at six foot, but he still managed to look slightly intimidating. His black hair fell arrogantly into his face in a way that gave her a sudden urge to brush it back. Standing this close, she could see the hazel specks in his grey eyes. She could see the leaness in his arms and legs through his uniform and she suspected that had likely come from his position as Beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He was the only man she had ever felt such a heady attraction to and she felt herself rearing back at the knowledge of it.

She watched his grey eyes fill with what appeared to be confusion before he quickly masked it with pure hatred and disgust. She suddenly had the urge to take a scalding bath, as though she were covered in grime. She shook her head and tried to focus on the task at hand. She was in the middle of getting Sirius Black off her back for God's sake and she was more worried about his physical appearance? What the hell was happening to her? Obviously seduction was not a good idea at this point. He was too damned sexy for her to even pretend she wasn't at all affected by him.

She schooled her features into a look of arrogance that she used regularly to hide her inner emotions and looked back up at him, her stance suddenly defensive as though she expected him to fight her.

"Look, Black, I'm going to let you off easy this time because obviously you were lured in by my charm and decided to follow me down the corridor-"

"Not bloody likely!" he exclaimed, his face full of indignation and anger. Carla rolled her eyes and cut across him before he could continue.

"Evening, Black."

She turned on her heel and walked away. She didn't get very far before she felt his hand wrap around her wrist and pull her roughly into his body. She grunted lightly as she came into contact with him and felt her face get warm at the feeling of the hardness if his body beneath her hands. Her eyes widened in disbelief when she realised what she was doing. Blushing! Carla Livingston was blushing! Merlin's balls, the world must be ending! No way in hell was he getting away with making her feel flustered, the arsehole.

She felt her face setting into a glare as she looked up at him, but it slid away at the look in his eyes. She thought hatred was bad, but the rage she saw in his eyes in that moment suddenly had her heart beating rapidly in her chest, her father's face appearing in the back of her mind's eye. Instinct had her trying to pull her wrist out of his grasp, her breath escaping in fast and short gasps. His grip tightened and he wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her when she began to struggle against him.

"What do you want with, Evans?" he snapped angrily, his hold on her wrist becoming bruisingly painful. "Answer me, dammit!"

"Nothing, I swear. Let me go." she hated how breathless she sounded in her fear.

"You know what I think?" he snapped. "I think you were hoping to catch her off guard and attack her. I think you were hoping no one would ever notice that she was missing. Is that it?"

"No." Carla gasped, suddenly realising she was crying. Not that he noticed anything past his anger.

"Don't lie to me!"

Carla struggled against him, though she knew it was pointless. She couldn't handle this, not here. Hogwarts was her only safe haven in the world, the only place she didn't have to live in fear. She didn't know what she would do if she had to deal with abusive men in the two places that she should have been able to find comfort in. She could feel the desperation welling up inside her, building until it suffocated her. She couldn't breathe, her chest constricting and she suddenly felt dizzy. She was going to pass out, she was going to...

Before she had any idea what she was doing, she felt her fist colliding with his nose. She heard the crack as the bone break, felt the blood gushing down his face, and heard the howl of pain he let out as he stumbled away from her and let go of her wrist. She couldn't be here anymore, she could feel the panic welling up inside her again. There was only one thing that she could do and it was the only thing she had ever been good at.

She turned on her heel and ran as far away from Sirius Black as she could get.

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**Okay, so this chapter totally had a mind of its own because it was definitely not supposed to turn out like that. She was supposed to fight him and other such things, but it didn't exactly turn out that way. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it all the same. And thanks for all the reviews last chapter. They were much appreciated. And sorry for such a short chapter. I hope the next one will be longer**


	5. Chapter 4: Normalcy

Hey guys! I know it's been awhile since I last updated but we moved and I don't have wi-fi connection at the moment. But since I'm at my dad's I figured I'd update for you guys. I'll update as soon as I can. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 5: Normalcy

Sirius quickly got used to his schedule at Hogwarts. Two weeks inside the castle and he was already in his familiar routine: wake up late, shove breakfast down his throat, and be late for his first class, make fun of Snivellus, help James irritate Lily, so on and so forth.

He was enjoying his time at Hogwarts, relishing it even though he knew he didn't need to now that the Potters had taken him into their home. He couldn't help himself, however. Knowing that he was free from his family's suffocating hold, his freedom seemed all the more sweet. His escape to the Potters gave him more reason to appreciate the independence he now held in his arms. It was relaxing in its own strange way.

But not everything was wonderful here at Hogwarts. Ever since the first night back, James and Remus had been badgering him about why he had returned to the boys dormitory with a broken nose that needed fixing. He had avoided answering, of course. He didn't need them to know that he had gotten into a fight with a girl. And a Slytherin, no less. Merlin knew James would never let him live that one down.

As for the mysterious Slytherin, he was surprised to realise that they shared all the same classes. Now that they were going into their NEWTs, he shared classes with every house in the school and he found that it was a tad bit odd he had never noticed her presence before. How did you miss a girl like that? It was even stranger that she seemed to be avoiding him like the plague. Not that he had been trying to get her attention; She had punched him in the face after all and that was not something he was willing to forgive her easily for. She had almost made his nose permanently crooked! If it hadn't been for Madame Pomfrey(and quick thinking on his part) she would have completely ruined his looks. And wouldn't that have been a shame?

As he walked arrogantly down the empty corridor to his Transfiguration classroom-late as usual-he grinned at the ease with which he stepped into his normal role of mischievous prankster.

"You are late, . Again" said Professor McGonagall as he stepped through the door.

Every head turned his direction as a vein began to throb in her temple. Of all the teachers, McGonagall was the most amusing to irk. While her detentions were harsh and usually justified, she was the only teacher that so openly lost her temper. He and James had counted at least five different veins that throbbed when she was angry as proof.

"I'm dearly sorry my poor Minnie. I do hope I'm not interrupting one of your enlightening lectures. Please do continue." he said, his grin cocky and amused. " I insist. Please don't stop on my account."

James sat sniggering next to a wide-eyed Peter as Remus shook his head from his seat a row in front of them.

"You will join me in my office tonight, Mr. Black. Eight o'clock."

Sirius grinned at her, nodding his head once in acknowledgement before he turned to find a place to sit. Usually Remus saved him a seat, but he was sitting next to the ever fiery Lily Evans much to James' obvious pleasure. He sat with his head resting on one of his open palms staring at her auburn locks in fascination as they fell in front of her eyes before she pushed them back behind her eyes to continue taking vigorous notes on their lesson. Sirius rolled his eyes and shook his head. He found James' fascination of Evans' hair a little on the creepy side. Not that he would ever mention that to James. If he did, the poor lovestruck bloke would most likely go into a rant about how her hair turned about ten different shades of red depending on where the sun hit it. He seriously did not need to hear that one again.

With a sigh, he looked around the room for an empty seat. And found only one...right next to the mysterious Slytherin. Bloody hell this day was going to suck wasn't it?

-oOo-

Carla had to admit that Sirius Black was a highly amusing young man. Maybe a little crazy considering the persistence with which he used to irritate McGonagall, but amusing nonetheless. As he turned on his heel to find an open seat, a cocky grin firmly set on his face, Carla instantly realised that the only empty seat was the one right next to her. She tensed just as he came to that same conclusion. Neither of them moved a muscle as they both stared at the empty seat next to her.

"There a problem, Mr. Black?" said McGonagall when she realised he was still standing in the middle of the classroom.

Sirius said nothing at first, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he attempted to think up a string of words that would form a competent sentence. Coming out of her daze, she smirked before forming a fishy face and mimicking his actions. The class started sniggering and Black glared at her, anger overriding his features.

"Having issues, Black?" she said, the condescension in her voice counteracting the faux-concern that filled her eyes. "It's not easy to form sentences is it? Of course, all you've got to do is open your mouth and find the words-"

"Miss Livingston, you would do well to learn when to stay silent. What is the problem Mr. Black?"

A glare settling on his features, he turned back to face her and said, "I can't sit there, Professor."

"Are you incapable?"

"We don't get along."

"You should have thought about that before you decided to come in late to class Mr. Black. And seeing as the two of you will be joining each other in detention tonight, you should get used to each others presence. Now if you don't mind, Mr. Black, I would like to get on with today's lesson."

Taking the hint, Sirius began making his way across the room reluctantly, dragging his feet across the floor before he plopped himself arrogantly down into his seat and glaring at every single innocent soul that decided now would be a good time to snigger.

Livingston, as McGonagall had called her, was obviously not that thrilled about him either. Despite the smirk and laid back posture, he could see the signs of her unease. The tension in her shoulders and the way her fingers twisted the black hair tie secured around her wrist, he could tell she was just as uncomfortable with this situation as he was.

Great, his day had just gone from better to worse. And he didn't like it. Not one bit.

Okay, that's it for this one guys. I apologise for any spelling or grammatical mistakes. I did this on my phone so some words may have slipped my notice. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	6. Chapter 5: Revenge

Lily squealed as a loud bang reverberated through the library as an angry Carla sat down next to her with a heavy Potions book. The offense earned her a glare from Madame Pince and a stern look from Lily, both of which Carla seemed to mostly ignore.

"What is your problem, Carla?" Lily said in a hushed voice as she scrambled to move her books and parchment away from the angry Slytherin's reach.

"What is my problem?" Carla exclaimed incredulously, completely ignoring Madame Pince's shushing noise. "You can't be serious, Lily!"

Of course, Lily had a guess as to what had put Carla in such a foul mood, but she was hardly going to bring it up. The only thing that would serve was listening to Carla rant and rave about Black's incessant need to cause trouble. And seeing as Lily was hoping to finish her essay by tonight, she had chosen to avoid her best friend for as long as possible.

"That stupid imbecile humiliated me in front of the whole Transfiguration class!" Carla snapped, much to Madame Pomfrey's obvious dislike. "Lily, I'm telling you right now if that woman shushes me one more time, I'm going to kill her."

With a roll of her eyes, Lily said, "First of all, you would do well to not take your obvious anger out on innocent bystanders. Second, calling him a 'stupid imbecile' is kind of redundant and is not going to solve any of your problems."

"Out of everything I just said, that is the one thing that calls out to you?" Carla said, incredulously. "Damn it, Lily, I got a detention because of him!"

Lily turned back to revising her Transfiguration essay, completely tuning her best friend out. She wasn't going to waste her time trying to convince Carla that she had gotten detention due to her own actions rather than Black's. As stubborn as the girl was Lily would have more luck trying to speak to a wall.

"He can't get away with this! Are you even listening to me right now Lily?" Carla said impatience coloring her voice.

Sighing, Lily looked up at her. She had to admit that Black had done quite well in making her angry. The fire sparkling in the pretty sea-blue depths of her eyes proved to be more than a little intimidating. And that was coming from someone who wasn't intimidated by much.

"I don't know what you plan on doing Carla, but I have a sudden suspicion that I'm not going to like it." she said, raising her eyebrows for confirmation.

Carla waved away the comment with a dismissive hand.

"That's beside the point right now. The point is I need to get revenge on Black and I need your assistance in doing so." she said, her voice daring Lily to disagree.

Lily, ever the rule abider, didn't pay the warning any heed and began to protest quite vehemently. Carla sighed. She had known very well that acquiring Lily's help in a prank would be next to impossible, and, if she were being honest, wasn't really the reason she had decided to confide in Lily about her plan.

"-I absolutely refuse to be part of this,Carla. Do you hear me?" Lily was saying. "Whatever suicide mission you are planning on getting yourself into will be of your doing and yours alone. Now I'm going to finish my essay and you are not going to mention this to me for the rest of the school year."

Carla raised an eyebrow at her red-headed friend as she turned back to her essay on the benefits of human transfiguration that was due in two weeks.

"Suicide mission?" Carla questioned in confusion.

Lily continued to ignore her in the hopes that she would soon give up trying to acquire her help and find better things to occupy her time with then getting revenge on Black. Searching through her transfiguration book to find the best instance to use human transfiguration, she heard Carla sigh dramatically next to her. Looking at her best friend out of the corner of her eye, she rolled her eyes at the exaggerated sad look on her face. Her cheek resting in her palm, she stared at Lily with a patience Lily didn't think she possessed as she let out dramatic sighs every thirty seconds. At first Lily had found it quite easy to ignore her and concentrate on her essay, but as the minutes drew on she found herself becoming irritated with the noise coming from her best friend.

"Carla, if you don't stop with the incessant sighing I'm going to the Gryffindor common room to finish my essay and leaving you down here alone." Lily threatened, causing Carla to glare at her in silence.

Lily smirked. Carla, being a Slytherin, would be unable to gain entrance to Gryffindor Tower unless she was aware of the password. And, on the unlikely chance that she was aware of the password, the Gryffindors would not be likely to welcome a Slytherin into their midst. Lily turned back to her essay, knowing she had won this round.

"I think you've been hanging out with me far too much." Carla muttered more to herself than Lily.

"Hardly." Lily said as she revised her last paragraph. "I merely used logic to acheive what I wanted. Sonething you don't use on a daily basis."

Carla smirked and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest.

"I do believe that you just inadvertently called me stupid." she stated.

"It wouldn't be considered inadvertently if I had every intention of calling you stupid."

Carla made an indignant noise and threw a roll of parchment at her head. Glaring, Lily put her quill down and shut her Transfiguration book before turning back toward Carla.

"You're not going to leave me alone until I listen, are you?"

Carla grinned brilliantly at Lily in confirmation and Lily sighed in defeat.

"I'm still not helping you. This is incredibly irrational and not any of my business in the slightest so you can leave me out of it." she stated stubbornly.

"Lily," Carla whined. "All I need for you to do is gather information."

"No, Carla. I want no part in this revenge of yours. You're lucky I'm even sitting here at all."

With a frustrated sigh, Carla gave up trying to convince her best friend to help her. For now.

"How is this going to solve anything anyway, Carla?" Lily said. "The only thing that's going to happen is Black retaliating with something just as cruel."

Carla rolled her eyes. "That's why he's not going to find out I did it."

Lily snorted, causing Carla to narrow her eyes at her.

"You can't be serious, Carla." Lily said almost laughing. "He'll see right through you. One, because no one is mental enough to prank one of the infamous pranksters, and, two, because you're the only one that has a personal vendetta against him at the moment. Other than Bellatrix Black, that is, but I don't think that even she is mental enough to try and prank Black."

"Did you honestly just compare me to BELLA?!" Carla exclaimed, loudly, before lowering her voice quickly. "Besides, Black isn't the all knowing, for Merlin's sake!"

"This is Black we're talking about, Carla. If there's one thing he's good at it's pranking. Hands down. He'll know it was you, if you can even prank him at all. With how good those four boys are at this sort of thing they can probably smell a prank from a mile away."

Carla rolled her eyes. "I think your overestimating them just a bit, Lils."

"And I think your UNDER estimating them, Carla." Lily said as she crossed her arms.

"Why do you even care if I prank him, Lily? It's not as though you like him," Carla snapped, quickly losing patience.

"I care because this could end very badly for all of us, Carla. Especially the innocent students that will somehow get caught in the middle." Lily snapped. "And because this is completely irrational and you made it my business when you came to talk to me about it."

"Just think about the benefits, Lily." Carla said. "This would be the perfect way to get back at Black for all the years he's bothered you. Not to mention, show him how immature he is."

"First of all, as I have stated plenty of times before now, this plan is irrational and going to get you absolutely no where. How exactly are you going to make Black be more mature by making him angry? Second of all, Black will retaliate. There's no stopping that. When he finds out it was you, which he will, I assure you he won't let you get away with it. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he got Potter to help him get revenge. Lastly, I have far more problems with Potter than I do with Black. And seeing as Potter is not part of this revenge plan, my help will be unnecessary and I will get no satisfaction from helping you."

Carla stared at Lily in shock and wondered if Lily ever did anything without thinking about it first. She would have to work on that this year. The girl needed to learn to live in the moment.

"Fine. I don't need your help then." Carla said stubbornly, refusing to back down from this fight. Black would get his due if it was the last thing she did.

Lily sighed. "You know, as a Prefect, I could give you detention just having the knowledge that you intend to break school rules."

"But you won't because you love me." Carla said with a grin.

Lily groaned and gave Carla a pleading look.

"I really don't think this is a good idea, Carla. Black isn't exactly known for his patience with Slytherins. He already doesn't like you. There's no telling what he'll do when it finds out it was you."

"Relax, Lily, I'll be fine. He's not going to find out it was me." Carla soothed.

"And how do you know that?" Lily questioned with a raised brow.

"Because its hard to recognise a prank if it doesn't actually look like one." she stated matter-of-factly.

Lily stared at her a second before answering. "I don't think I'm following you right now."

"You'll find out soon, Lily dearest. Very soon."

Lily found herself feeling bad for Black in that instant. With that smirk on her face, Lily knew that Sirius Black would get his due. The worst part was he'd never even see it coming.

-OoO-

Thats it for this one guys. I'll probably end up updating another chapter either this week or next in order to catch this story up with my other story. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and thank you for your patience with my sporadic updates!


	7. Chapter 6: Revelations

**Chapter 6: Revelations**

Carla looked down at the letter in her hand and wondered if she should actually go through with this plan. Despite knowing she had told Lily she was going to pull a prank on Black, she had doubts that this was a tad too far. Only problem was she didn't have a back up plan if this prank didn't work. Not to mention the work she'd gone to in order to brew the Amortentia. No, she couldn't back out of this plan. Shaking her head roughly to shake out her doubts she continued to make her way to the Owlery, her resolve restored.

Searching for the owl she knew Severus Snape was fond of using, she tied the letter to its leg. The use of the owl was one of her better ideas. Not only would it solidify the words inside the letter, it would also serve to keep her completely anonymous. Despite the reassurances she had given Lily, Carla had no doubt Sirius Black would figure out this was all a prank. She was looking forward to his reaction when he discovered someone had succeeded in doing the unthinkable. As far as Carla was aware, no one had ever attempted to prank one of the infamous Marauders, as they so often called themselves. This would be a first for all of Hogwarts.

She left the Owlery smirking. The final step of her plan could be accomplished quite easily. The hardest part of her plan had been finding a way to alter the Amortentia. In order to make the prank seem more realistic she had needed to alter the potion to hint more at a subtle attraction rather than a full on obsession. Not only would the obsessive tendency serve as an immediate indicator of a love potion, but it would alert more than just Black to the prank and she definitely didn't need all four of the marauders coming after her in revenge. The only problem she had been unable to perfect was the intensity of the love felt became more obvious and obsessive the longer the potion was in the victim's system. She estimated that she had until dinner before the potion would wear off completely if all went well and she slipped the potion into his drink during breakfast.

Sitting next to her victim and unknowing accomplice, she prayed that the smell of breakfast would overpower the smell of the potion and make it easier for her to slip it to him without any suspicion. She knew that he had an extensive knowledge of potions and would immediately be aware of her plans if he got so much as a whiff. Reaching for a piece of toast, she inconspicuously flicked her wrist and let the potion flow into his goblet. There was a faint smell of chocolate and musk before the scent disappeared altogether as the potion mixed with the cold pumpkin juice. She felt the tension lift in relief when she watched him take a sip of his juice. The change came over him immediately. One second he was perfectly normal and the next he was pale and sickly, his eyes taking on a sparkle that was a little on the unstable side. Carla looked up and smirked when she saw Black and his friends reading the letter. Perfect timing.

-OoO-

Sirius Black stared at the letter in his hands in disbelief; Someone was trying to prank him. No one had ever even thought about pranking him before and he could honestly say that he was both amazed and angry that someone would give it a shot. Not even the Slytherins had tried to prank him before and most of them were on a suicide mission with Lord Voldemort.

Sirius looked up when he heard his friends snickering at his expense.

"Shut up, the whole lot of you." he hissed sending a glare at all three of them. "This isn't funny."

James grinned slyly. "I find this to be quite amusing actually. I don't think anyone has ever dared to prank one of us before. Who do you suppose it was?"

"Maybe that Slytherin girl you embarrassed in Transfiguration?" said a timid Peter.

"Don't be daft, Peter!" Sirius exclaimed in frustration. He felt slightly guilty at seeing Peter flinch and sink in defeat. He smiled apologetically at his friend before lowering his tone. "It couldn't have possibly been her."

"And why not?" Remus questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Currently she's the only one with any motive to go after you like this."

Sirius thought about that in silence for several seconds. He had to admit that Remus brought up a good point. He had embarrassed her in front of all of her own year. And while he knew that Slytherins did not take lightly to public humiliation, they were far more cunning than pulling a prank on someone who would easily sniff it out. He also knew they were all cowards. No way would one of them risk getting caught and receiving retaliation. They would more likely use someone else as a pawn to acheive their own ends. Now that was a thought.

"Do any of you know who she is?" he asked in curiosity.

"She's in our year," Peter piped up hopefully.

If it wasn't for the fact that Sirius had already snapped at him once today, he was sure Peter would have gotten slapped upside the head. Instead all he got were three equal stares of disbelief before James decided to break eye contact and turned back to Sirius. Peter had a tendency to state the obvious and was somewhat slow on the intelligence front and the three of them had learned not to point such things out to the boy.

"I've never seen her before, though I'm sure we've had classes with her every year." James said. "Why are you so interested in her anyways, Padfoot? You said yourself that it wasn't her."

"I don't know. I just don't understand how someone like her has gone unnoticed until now."

Remus huffed. "She's hardly gone unnoticed. She's been going through the rumor mill since fourth year and she always sits alone at dinner. Not to mention the fact that she's friends with Lily, something I expected James to know considering his mounting obsession."

James tensed and glared over at his friend.

"Its not an obsession, Remus. It is a healthy infatuation. And why in the bloody hell is Lily friends with another Slytherin?"

"The two of you would do well to let go of your prejudices." Remus said wisely. "The only thing its going to do is cause you more trouble."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "They bring it on themselves, Remus. Name a Slytherin that hasn't been prejudiced."

"Carla Livingston." he stated matter of factly.

"Who is he talking about?" Sirius said looking over at James, who looked just as equally confused.

"The Slytherin you are so adamant on hating. She isn't prejudiced."

Sirius snorted. "And I suppose you would know from all of the times you've spoken with her?"

"Actually I've never said two words to her. However, its common knowledge that she is the first ever Muggleborn to be sorted into Slytherin house."

There was several seconds of silence before they started laughing. Even Peter laughed at the ridiculous notion of a muggle born being sorted into Slytherin. The hat would never allow it. Not to mention the members of Slytherin would hate her upon coming to such a conclusion. She would be ridiculed and bullied for defiling its pureblood reputation.

Remus raised an eyebrow at the three of them.

"Have you ever wondered why she sits alone at dinner? Or in the back of every class? Has it ever seemed strange to you that she isn't ashamed to walk around with Lily Evans, who is commonly referred to as a Mudblood by the rest of her house? Or how she's never been vain and snide, never drawn attention to herself? While I'm sure she has the qualities to be a Slytherin, she hardly shows them. Does that not seem strange to you?"

As if on cue, the blonde haired Slytherin made her way over to the Gryffindor table to fetch a smiling Lily. Looking up, she met the three sets of curious eyes that were watching her every move. Raising an eyebrow, she followed Lily out of the Great Hall. Sirius watched her in disbelief and curiosity. Why would the Sorting Hat put her in a house that would hate her? Did it honestly believe that she was qualified for the house?

"My head is beginning to ache with the circles we are walking in right now and we have double Charms with Flitwick. This is getting us absolutely no where." James said, grabbing his bag as he stood.

While Sirius agreed, he found himself wondering about the mystery Slytherin as they exited the Great Hall and made their way for the Charms classroom.

-oOo-

Sirius was beyond angry as he sat down for dinner that night. He distinctly registered James sniggering in the background as he piled food on his plate.

His day had gone from bad to worse. Sitting through all of his classes with Snape staring at him with googly eyes had been more than a little disturbing, but he'd expected as much and he'd found it relieving that the effects of the love potion seemed dulled a bit. Of course, the infatuation only got worse as time passed, becoming more obsessive and unstable with every second that passed. Snape had gone so far as to create a fan club completely devoted to Sirius. Even more surprising was the amount of desperate girls that had taken it upon themselves to join. Not only had he been chased down corridors by an overly affectionate Snape, but he also had to deal with blushing first years trying to capture his attention.

The worst part of the day, however, was finally being cornered by Snape. He hadn't expected to be followed to the loo and had been more then frightened when he turned around and saw Snape standing behind him, a huge loving grin spread across his face. Even more frightening were the attempts Snape had made to "prove his love". While Sirius was far from innocent, he was not entirely comfortable having the greasy git try to put his hands in places they shouldn't be. In his panic, Sirius had begun to shout and James had run in with his wand raised before dissolving into a fit of laughter.

Sirius huffed angrily and began to shove his mashed poatoes into his mouth, a moody look on his face. Whatever intrigue he had found in Carla Livingston had dissipated upon having to deal with Snape. Instead of feeling a mild fascination when someone spoke about her, he found his anger growing. Peter and Remus had been right about who had pranked him. She was the only one that had a reason to want him to be humiliated and she had been smirking quite strangely in Potions after lunch. It meant nothing, however, because he would get her back for this.

"Here comes Snivellus, Padfoot. Oh, look! He brought you a present." James said as he and Remus broke into silent laughter.

Sirius groaned and let his head fall onto the table upon seeing Snape. This day was only getting worse.

"Black, I have a surprise for you." Snape said when he reached them, his voice slightly breathy and his eyes sparkling in a way that put Sirius on edge.

The pained groan Sirius let out seemed to only add fuel to the all ready raging fire.

"Please continue, Snivellus," James encouraged with a grin, ignoring Sirius' glare. "Sirius has always been fond of surprises."

"I hate you so much right now, James." Sirius muttered much to James' amusement.

Snape acted as though he hadn't heard a word either of them had said and handed Sirius a bottle of what appeared to be shampoo. Sirius raised an eyebrow before handing it back in the hopes that Snape wouldn't explain. Merlin didn't seem to agree with him because Snape was already doing just the opposite of what he wanted.

"I know how much you hate my hair, so I have decided I will try extra hard to wash it for you. Then maybe you will agree that we belong together."

James choked on his pumpkin juice and began to have a coughing fit as he attempted to stop laughing. Even Remus, who had never quite agreed with the way he and James treated Snape, seemed to find the comment amusing and hid his grin behind the rim of his goblet. Peter let out a squeak of laughter as Sirius began to bash his head repeatedly against the fine wood of the Gryffindor table in frustration.

"Black, what on Earth are you doing?" a voice said from behind him.

Sirius looked up at Lily Evans, who was watching him with a wary look, and tensed. There was Carla Livingston, standing right next to Lily with a smirk on her face. Sirius growled at her and ignored the placating hand James put on his shoulder.

"You," he hissed angrily. "This is all your fault, isn't it?"

"What's all her fault?" Lily questioned quickly. "Carla, what did you do to Black?"

Carla rolled her eyes and gave Snape a meaningful look. Lily turned towards him curiously and immediately stiffened before turning to glare at Carla.

"That is beyond cruel, Carla." she hissed, watching Snape with an anxious look. "Not to mention how many rules you're breaking."

Carla gave a shrug. "I never said I did anything. Black seemed to come to that conclusion all on his own."

Lily glared at her. "Don't pretend to be innocent Carla. You told me about getting revenge-"

"You knew about this?!" Sirius exclaimed loudly, but Lily merely ignored him.

"-so don't sit here and try to convince me this wasn't you. Where's the antidote?"

Carla sighed and took a seat next to Remus as though she belonged there, which only served to make Sirius angrier.

"The antidote is wherever I want it to be and Black isn't getting it."

Sirius jumped up and was about to grab his wand when James wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him back down to sit next to him. Carla merely raised an eyebrow at him, an emotion he was unable to place in his anger flashing through her eyes.

"I'll get you back for this, snake." he snapped.

"Using my house as an insult, are we Black?" she said, smirking. "Thats a tad amateur don't you think?"

Sirius growled again, his eyes taking on an angry glint. He'd nearly had enough of this girl and it was only a month into school. All ready she'd broke his nose and he'd had enough trouble trying to explain to his friends that nothing had happened. And now she was humiliating him in front of the whole school am enjoyong every second of it.

"Do you think you can control him, Potter?" Evans snapped, pausing in her attempts to get the antidote from Carla.

"Its a lot harder than it looks, Evans." James snapped.

"Don't talk to me-"

"Merlin's nuts," Carla groaned before Lily could say anything further. "Can the two of you do me a favor and simmer down for once. I understand what sexual tension is, but the two of you are going to a new level."

"Sexual tension?" Lily all but yelled, spinning to face her as James smirked. "Potter and I do not have _sexual tension_!"

Carla ignored her and pulled out a vial of clear liquid and poured it into a goblet of cold pumpkin juice before holding it out to Sirius with a smirk.

"You want the antidote," Carla said, setting it down by his plate of food. "I'll give it to you. Under one condition,"

Sirius handed the potion back to her before she could explain what she wanted in return. It was typical of a Slytherin to give nothing unless there was something in it for them, but he wasn't going to owe a Slytherin any favors. Carla seemed to realise this and smiled sweetly at Snape, who stood behind her staring at him wistfully.

"I think Black's having a bad day, Snape. He needs someone to cheer him up."

Sirius tensed as Snape's face lit up and he made his way towards him. He struggled against James' hold, but wasn't fast enough and soon found himself enveloped in a hug. With Snape.

"Someone get him off me. Right now." Sirius said, glaring at his grinning friends. He was going to kill them all.

"It seems like you could use that antidote, doesn't it?" Carla said, triumph glinting in her eyes as she held the goblet out to him in offering. He glared at her and considered whether it was really worth it. Sure, Snape was being a right pain in his arse, but he knew better than to promise a Slytherin favors. He could fend Snape off until the potion wore off. Just as he thought it, Snape cuddled closer and Sirius panicked.

"Give me the bloody drink, Livingston!" he snapped, pushing against his enemy's shoulders in an attempt to get out of his hold.

Carla raised an eyebrow as Lily came over to help Sirius break free of Snape's hold, finally pausing in her argument with James about their nonexistent sexual tension.

"I have plenty more where this came from in case you weren't aware. It would be quite easy for me to slip the potion to him every morning."

Sirius tensed and Lily whirled around to glare at her.

"You are not giving this to him everyday, Carla!" She snapped. "I absolutely forbid it. This is awful, not to mention incredibly dangerous."

"Lily, sweetie, I love you to pieces, but you are beginning to get into things that don't involve you." Carla said in exasperation.

"I'm a Prefect! This does involve me! Now give Black the antidote." Lily yelled, her cheeks taking on that rosy color that indicated her mounting anger.

Sirius smirked. Only James had ever dared to go against Lily's anger and he doubted Carla would push her any longer. She shocked him, however, by turning back to him and tilting the drink towards him in invitation, smirk plastered across her face and ignoring Lily completely.

"Tell me what you want first." he snapped, finally managing to get Snape off of him.

"I hardly think you have the grounds to-"

"Tell me!" he snapped.

Carla huffed and folded her arms across her chest.

"No need to get impatient, Black. You can have the antidote if, and only if, you agree not to retaliate."

Sirius stared at her for a second before giving James a disbelieving look.

"That's all you want?" he asked in confusion.

Carla laughed. "Don't sound so surprised, Black. As far as I'm concerned we're even. You humiliated me, I did the same to you. There's hardly any reason to carry on a situation that is already taken care of."

Sirius stared at her a second before giving a nod of his head and making a grab for the goblet, but she jerked it away from him.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed with a glare. "I agreed to your terms so give me the drink!"

"You can't have anyone else retaliate for you either, just so we're clear. Not some first year you coerced into doing it for you and not one of these three"-she indicated James, Remus, and Peter-"to do it for you. Are we clear?"

Sirius clenched his teeth. "Fine."

She grinned and handed him the potion. Sirius ignored her and handed the drink to Snape.

"Bottoms up, mate. I made it special for you." he muttered, watching as Snape eagerly drank it without question.

The change was instantaneous. He slumped slightly and his eyes took on an exhausted glint, his complexion returning to normal. When he noticed where he was standing, he gave them all a glare before stomping off to the Slytherin table, having no memory of the incident. Sirius scowled. It hardly seemed fair that he had the images seared into his brain for life and Snape would remember nothing.

Carla grinned and stood, wiping off her school robes.

"Well, it was nice meeting the lot of you, but I need to get back to dinner." she said, eyeing all of them before looking toward an angry Lily. "I'll meet you after breakfast tomorrow,yeah?"

Lily answered with a huff before storming off to sit with her friends. Carla watched her walk away and shook her head.

"I wish you the best of luck with her, Potter." she said before making her way over to the Slytherin table.

Sirius stared after her before sinking down into his seat.

"That was probably the strangest encounter of my life." James muttered.

Sirius couldn't help but agree.

-oOo-

**That is the last chapter this story needed to catch up with Trial and Error, which means I will be taking a long overdue break from updating. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 7: Back to Normal

**Back again! I know it hasn't been that long since my last update, but I wanted to update both of my stories once again before I leave for Europe in June. And since I'm already on the subject, I won't be able to update from June 16-July 4 because I will not have any wifi while I'm there for those two and a half weeks. All of that being said, let's get back to talking about the story.**

**I'm not entirely sure how many chapters this fic will be since I'm not prewriting any of it(one of the reasons I am asking for anyone's advice on the writing style) but I do know that it will include Carla's and Sirius' 6th and 7th years at Hogwarts. I'm also pretty sure that I will write a sequel from their graduation from Hogwarts up until the night of Voldemort's "defeat" by Harry and Sirius' imprisonment. **

**After that, however, I am at a loss of what to do. I know I don't want to leave the 13 years of Sirius' imprisonment out in the open because Carla and Sirius will eventually meet again(sorry if that ruins things for anyone), but I don't know how to go about it. I can either do a series of oneshots(all in order because I have a pet peeve with mixing them all up) about what its like for Carla without Sirius and the Potters or I can make another sequel and make it a full story with a plot, though I'm not promising how that would turn out. Anyways, I'm willing to give both a shot, so it is entirely up to you guys. Do you want oneshots or a full story? Don't rush to answer because I will ask again near the end of this story when certain things begin to fall into place that may or may not change your mind.**

**Also, I'm pretty new to the site, at least as far as writing goes, so I've been wondering if anyone can tell me what exactly a Beta does for an author and how I get one because I have a feeling I could use one.**

**Anyways, thanks for all of the reviews/PMs/favorites/follows for this story. I am incredibly grateful for all of them and I appreciate the feedback.**

**Chapter 7: Back to Normal**

-oOo-

As September drew on and the chill of October approached, Sirius found his life at Hogwarts returning to normal. He attended classes, served detention for being late to said classes, and pulled pranks with the boys on the unsuspecting occupants of the castle. The routine had seemed comforting and normal at the beginning of the year, but now he found it quite draining. He didn't understand why when he had never had any problems before now, but he somehow always seemed to be thinking about that Slytherin. Carla Livingston if he remembered correctly. She devoured his thoughts more than eighty percent of the time and the thought made him cringe. She was a Slytherin for Merlin's sake and he could only imagine what his parents would think if they ever discovered what had been running through his mind lately.

Despite those points, there was something that seemed..._off _abouther_. _She wasn't like any of the other Slytherins he was so accustomed to meeting. Her desire to prank one of the infamous Marauders showed a bravery he wasn't entirely sure she realised she possessed. He had to admit, though, that her using his dislike of Snape to save her own arse was entirely Slytherin. He still found his inability to get revenge irritating and he was angry at himself for being such a pansy about Snape when the potion would have surely worn off by the end of the day. He shuddered to think, however, what those few hours until curfew would have been like for him.

While she occupied his thoughts more frequently than he would like to admit, he also had plenty of other things to think about. At least he had plenty of things to think about with the full moon drawing nearer. The full moon always served as a distraction from all the things that bothered him, despite knowing he shouldn't find any sort of relief in Remus's time of need.

"Sirius, are you even listening to me?" Remus' angry voice said from the other side of the 6th year boys dormitory, pulling Sirius out of the thoughts that plagued him almost daily.

"Sorry, mate," Sirius muttered, sitting up from his sprawled position on his foreposter bed and looking over at Remus, who was beginning to look sickly due to the upcoming full moon. "what were you saying?"

James, who was reading a Quidditch magazine upside down on his own bed, replied without looking up, his voice monotonous. "He is attempting to talk us out of going with him tomorrow night."

Sirius snorted and rolled his eyes at one of his best mates, more like his brother, in irritation. They had all finally managed to turn themselves into an Animagus the year before in order to help their friend suffer through the change every month. Of course, they had done it in secret in order to avoid getting in serious trouble and Remus had had no idea of their intentions until he had woken up one day with the three of them laying sprawled across the floor of the Shrieking Shack with him. And ever since then he had been trying to convince them that it was too dangerous. Not that any of them bothered to listen to a word he was saying; They had an unspoken agreement that a Marauder would never suffer alone if they could help it and they refused to back down on the matter.

"I'm serious this time, you guys." Remus said, growling in irritation when none of them bothered listening. "This is too dangerous and the three of you aren't bloody invincible."

When the three continued to ignore him, he threw a book across the room in anger, causing Peter to squeal and fall off of his bed in fear at the loud noise it made when it hit the wall next to Sirius' head.

"Will you listen to me for Merlin's sake?!" Remus yelled angrily, his eyes taking on a feral glow. "This isn't something to joke about."

Peter whimpered in surprise at Remus' foul mood. James and Sirius only shared a look before James straightened himself on the bed and swayed slightly when he sat up too fast. They were all remotely used to Remus' moods during the full moon and they tended to be worse on the week leading up to his transformation, his body beginning to take on the characteristics of the werewolf in order to prepare itself for the impending change. The moods, while slightly irritating, were easily manageable when they thought about how much Remus was going through on a monthly basis.

"Do you see any of us laughing, Remus?" James said, his voice consoling, but his face set in hard lines and determination.

Remus let out a growl and Peter jumped up next to Sirius on the bed in order to maintain his distance.

"You're not being serious about it, either." he snapped.

Sirius glared at him. "We are actually," he said before James could respond with a patience Sirius was sorely lacking. "We aren't going to listen to you try and convince us that you don't need our help when we all know you do. So shut your bloody gob and quit bringing it up."

"Sirius" James warned with a groan. "could you possibly tone down the anger? I think we've got enough of that coming from Remus over there." Sirius only grunted and folded his arms in response. "Look, Remus," James continued, ignoring his best mate's brooding face. "Its not that we aren't taking you seriously, all right? We understand where you're coming from, honestly we do, but we aren't letting you go out there on your own. You've done enough of that already as it is, mate."

"I've done perfectly fine before you guys showed up. I don't need you risking your lives for me." Remus groused, refusing to back down despite the pleading look on his friend's face.

The comment made them all wince. Though they knew he wasn't intending to be hurtful, the comment still stung. James sighed and looked over at Sirius in exasperation.

"Moony, I honestly don't give a bloody damn about what you think we should or shouldn't do. We're going to be there for you no matter what you say. You need the help and you know it makes the transformation easier, not to mention how much it relaxes you when you change. We aren't backing down from this." Sirius said, giving Remus a stern look.

"Why?" Remus whispered staring at the three of them as they all stared at him in determined silence. "Why are you doing this for me?"

The words sounded broken as they escaped his mouth and he didn't bother looking any of them in the eye, his body sinking in defeat. The three of them sank in relief at his dissipating anger and James opened his mouth to answer when Peter interrupted him.

His usually timid voice was firm as he looked at Remus. "Because you're family."

Sirius couldn't help the grin that spread across his face and he gave Peter a slap on the back. It was rare for Peter to say something meaningful and he wad proud of him for saying the thing that Remus needed to hear most.

The statement was met with silence. While Remus had been aware that he meant something to his best mates, proven to him by their constant determination to stand by his side, he wasn't sure how to respond to this new revelation. He had always known James and Sirius were as close as brothers, but sometimes he felt as though he and Peter were just tag-alongs. Remus had never been one to agree with the mischief the boys caused on a regular basis, instead sticking to making sure whatever they were doing didn't cause much harm or embarrassment to its victim. If it weren't for the fact that he found some of their pranks mildly amusing, he doubted they would have bonded at all.

It was moments like this that made him feel close to them all. These moments made him feel as though he wasn't forcing them to stick around and grow up faster then they should. These moments were the reason he kept fighting through the pain and fear of every transformation when he sometimes only wanted to give up. These moments gave him something to love for, made him feel like he was part of something meaningful. But these moments also put a lot of pressure on his shoulders when he thought about what he could do to them when the full moon came through.

Looking across the room, Remus sighed, the sound dejected. They weren't going to give up. And that gave him the strength to keep going too.

-oOo-

Carla rolled over in bed and stared at the sliver of moonlight that entered through the crack between the curtains and illuminated a small slice of the ceiling. She hadn't been able to sleep in weeks with everything that had been plaguing her mind lately and she heaved a great sigh when she realised tonight would be no different. She wondered why she was so...agitated lately. Given, it wasn't the first time she had spent many nights lying awake in her foreposter at night, but her life seemed calm at the moment. Sort of. She sighed again when she realised she was beginning to lie to herself. Not only was her life far from being calm, she was worried about too many things to count at the moment.

For one, her father had sent her an owl a week ago questioning her school status and she still hadn't sent him a reply, something she knew she would sorely regret during Christmas break. She was also worried about what Snape would do now that he'd figured out it was her that had slipped him a love potion during breakfast, even though she'd known he would eventually figure it out. And lastly, but not any less important, she wondered when she was going to receive her usual welcome back from Bellatrix. It had been weeks since school had started and she still hadn't received her usual welcome...

_No, Carla, don't you dare think about that!, _she told herself sternly.

Carla found it nearly impossible to think about anything else, however. It was never good when Bella took this long to suggest a meeting in her favorite abandoned classroom and she couldn't help but think that Snape had told about her misdeed. While Bella wasn't particularly fond of Snape, she welcomed any reason to punish Carla no matter how unfair.

_Dammit, Carla, I thought I told you to stop!_, she reminded herself with an angry shake of her head.

With a frustrated huff, she turned back on her side and stared at the green and silver silk curtains that hid her from her roommates' eyes. Most of her time was spent in her foreposter when she was in the Slytherin dorms. She didn't have any friends in Slytherin house so she refused to spend time in the common room and be ridiculed for her blood status and she was only in her house quarters when curfew hit and she was no longer allowed to wander through the halls of the castle. Staring at the same set of silk curtains she had seen for six years, she found herself wondering, as she normally did, what it would be like to belong to a House different than the one she was in. What it would be like to spend nights in her dorm giggling and gossiping in her dorm about boys and school drama rather than hiding away to avoid further pain.

With another of those annoying sighs, Carla realised that her life at Hogwarts was returning back to normal. She was once again panicky and sleep-deprived. And alone. She was always going to be alone.

-oOo-

**I know this chapter isn't at its best, but it was supposed to be up weeks ago and with my tripping only 2 days away, I was rushing to get this finished so you guys would be able to have something to tide you over while I'm away in England, France, and Italy for two and a half weeks. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!**


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